Would You Like a Strait Jacket with That?
by Tirzah
Summary: Short humor piece. Please r/r


Resubmitted in Paragraphs.  
  
Holly Harding, cashier at Taco Bell, was not having a very good day. It had been extremely frustrating not to mention LONG. She had started at two and was to get of around ten. Provided the lobby was clean. There hadn't been any customers for a while so she had gotten everything done but taking the nozzles off the drink dispenser. She couldn't do that until the store closed at ten. There was still ten minutes to go and she was hoping and praying no one else came in. Just as that thought crossed her mind she saw a van pull up.  
  
'Drive thru, Drive thru, Drive thru!' she mentally begged. No such luck. They came in. Her eyes almost widened but she controlled herself. How many were there?! It looked like about fifteen people were getting out of the van. 'Maybe they'll just use the bathrooms, get some drinks and go.' She thought optimistically. She didn't appear to be having any better luck than before. They all came and stood around staring at the menu. She reigned in her frustration and hoped that they would order together and leave. However considering that most had money in their hands; luck didn't seem to be on her side.  
  
She forced herself to smile as the first person came up. It was a young man in sunglasses. She wondered briefly if he was blind but he didn't seem to be. "Hello, May I help you?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'll have one number one." She asked a few more questions about the meal. Then the one to let her know if her night was ruined. "Will that be for here or to go?"  
  
"Here."  
  
Still smiling, she mentally screamed in frustration. Even more so when he pulled out a twenty. She hated making change for a twenty. Well, she did when the meal only cost $4.33! The red haired girl seemed to be wincing but Holly ignored it. Then she noticed one of the boys was using the line partitions as athletic bars. Since it wasn't policy to say "Don't do that!" She tried the more diplomatic approach.  
  
"Please, be careful. That can be dangerous."  
  
"It's okay. I'm used to it." Hmm, German accent. He hadn't gotten her message though.  
  
"I'd feel better if you didn't do that." He shrugged and hopped down.  
  
  
  
She finished with the red-haired girl's order and then the German guy came up.  
  
"Ja, I'll have five hard tacos and two grilled stuft burritos, and a Nacho Bell Grande and a large drink." That had to be one of the largest orders for one person she had taken yet. She didn't say anything even though she could hear the kitchen crew getting upset. Only three down, who knew how many left.  
  
"Do you, like, have any vegetarian?  
  
" "Well, anything with beef can have the beef taken out and beans substituted. But your best bets are probably." She listed a few items.  
  
Next came a black kid with blond hair who actually wanted five milks. She had to run in back to check to see if they even had any milk. They did. Then there was some girl dressed all in black and was literally covered in clothes, even gloves. There were a whole bunch more orders but they didn't really stick out in Holly's mind. About half had gotten their orders and the other half were waiting when some more people came in. Just five this time. Another mental scream. She could have sworn the red-haired girl winced but it was probably nothing. It was after ten by now but since the door hadn't been locked she had to take their orders. It quickly became obvious that the groups knew each other and weren't happy about seeing each other. But neither was going to leave either. She desperately hoped this wouldn't turn into a fight. She didn't want to have to call the police. This second group was strange. One of them was the biggest person Holly had ever seen before in her life. She had to work at not staring. Another had white hair and couldn't stay still for more then two seconds. A third was kind of small and had almost a greenish hue. The other two didn't stand out as much but seemed even less happy to see the first group. Holly hoped she'd be out of there by ten-thirty. Then came the orders.  
  
A blond girl who seemed to be irritating the others was first. She took forever making up her mind and changed it a thousand times. Even after it was rung up. Mental sigh. That meant deletions on her report. Not to mention running back for a manager card. Liz, her manager in charge, not only gave her the card but also locked the doors so there wouldn't be any other late orders. The next wasn't so difficult except that he paid for his entire meal ($6.37) in change. Holly kept her smile glued on her face so she couldn't scream. Next came the big kid. If she thought the German kid ate a lot that was nothing compared to this kid. By the time his order was done, he had 30 tacos, 3 Nacho Belle Grandes, 5 orders of cinnamon twists and a large drink. The green kid didn't want a whole lot but the white haired kid did and got impatient that it wasn't there. 'Well, their still waiting on ten other orders! Of course it isn't ready yet!' she thought.  
  
It was about then that she noticed the first mistake of the evening. The two groups, which appeared to be called 'brotherhood' and 'x-men'; she hadn't figured out which was which, were sitting to close. Her first preference would be that neither be in the restaurant; but barring that she would have preferred that the stay on opposite sides, eat quickly and leave quietly. Not having much to do until they left, she went in the back to drink her water and hope they left. When the insult match got loud enough she could hear it in the back she decided she had better keep an eye on them in case she had to call the police.  
  
That was when she noticed the second mistake of the evening. When they asked for sauce, she had given it to them. When they asked for more, she gave it to them. Now they were waging a full-scale food fight with it. She winced when she saw the lobby. It would take her a full hour to clean! She groaned, grabbed a rag and hoped against hope they would stop. No one ever told her how to deal with a food fight. The windows were streaked with sauce; the floor was a mess, the tables, everything! And she had school tomorrow! She first tackled the windows furthest from the fighters. Then she went for a mop for the floor. While trying to mop the floor she got hit on the side of her face with sauce. 'Eww! It's in my ear!' she shot a look at the large group. Then let out a shriek when she was suddenly doused with a large cup of tea. 'And I don't even like tea.' She thought hysterically. The white-haired kid, Peter or something, said something that sounded something like an apology and sped of to refill it. She spent a minute trying to catch her breath and keep from crying. Food was flying by now and she seemed to be catching a lot of it.  
  
Eyes still closed, she took a step. and wound up flat on her back! Ice! Where had that come from?! It was a hundred degrees outside! Okay it wasn't that bad; but it was HOT! Not to mention that Hurt! She tried to stop the tears from rolling down her face but didn't seem to be doing a good job. This was not her night.  
  
  
  
============ Much Later ===================  
  
Holly stumbled back into the kitchen area. She looked like something out of a bad science fiction movie. But the lobby was clean!!! Her manager took one look at her and nearly fainted.  
  
"You look." Holly shot her a look that she hoped said 'Don't say a word.' She must have had some success.  
  
"You're still here?!"  
  
Holly nodded.  
  
Liz took a look out in the lobby. "What happened?"  
  
Holly was punching out to go home. "Armageddon."  
  
  
  
A. N. I hope I don't have to tell you that I don't own Taco Bell or the X- Men Evo Characters. If I get five positive reviews I'll do a sequel where Holly runs into them again at school the next day. For the purposes of this fic the timeline is before Mystique shows up again. 


End file.
